Moving On
by creddie cailey kogan supporter
Summary: After graduation where does life take you? A story that picks up where we left off with the rest of the gang. Through the various trials and tribulations of life the gang faces challenges that shape their futures, help them transition into adults, and most importantly lead them in the right path. With each other they can face everything life throws at them. Right?
1. Chapter 1

_**MOVING ON:**_

 **~CODY~**

 _August 25_ _th_ _2011._ The day had finally come. The official last day of summer for the Martin twins. For one particular twin he had a world of opportunities right in his hands. And it would all begin tomorrow. For the other one, well he really didn't know what was going to happen him next. He had nowhere to go, nowhere to be and no direction in his life. As Cody finally packed his final box to go to college he looked around his once tidy half of the room. It was now empty except for the twin size bed. In the next twenty four hours he was going to be on the drive out to New York City where his dreams would begin. He had accepted an offer from NYU's nursing school the night after graduating Seven Seas High. Sure he was definitely going to miss his little hay Bail but they had promised to call each other every night and he knew that their love was definitely stronger than it was before they broke up. They had both grown as people and learned that each relationship needed trust and commitment right in the center of it. And of course love.

"Wow it looks so different in here." Carrie said as she put on her earrings to complete her outfit for her performance that night. "It looks so empty." Carrie said sadly.

"Mom you know I'm going to be back here during the holidays and I promised you that I would call you every single morning." Cody laughed.

"I know but I'm going to miss my little sous chef around here. You and I both know that Zack isn't that good of a cook." Carrie laughed.

"Not to worry mom I left several homemade dinners in the freezer and I taught Zack the basics this summer and surprisingly he isn't half that bad…" Cody laughed.

"Let's face it there not going to be as good as yours." Carrie laughed.

"At least you still have someone who can cook decently around here. We don't want a repeat of Thanksgiving last year." Cody laughed.

"I swear I thought you had to put the bag of stuffing into the turkey." Carrie said defensively. "And you have to admit my cooking abilities have been getting stronger."

"Yeah but there is definitely still some work to do." Cody laughed.

"What am I going to do with you?" Carrie laughed as she whacked Cody's shoulder with her hand purse. "Anyways I'm off to do my show I promise I'll be back as soon as possible to spend time with my baby…I can't believe your off to college tomorrow." Carrie sighed.

"Neither can I…" Cody sighed.

"Look sweetie I know that Bailey won't there with you in New York City but I promise things will be better in time." Carrie said kissing her younger sons cheek before heading out.

Cody zipped up his last piece of luggage and looked around the small hotel bedroom one final time. It was like he was having some sort of out of body experience. Half of him was excited for the incredible opportunities out there in the big world that he was going to face, and the other half wanted to stay in Boston the city he had grown to love. He felt like his life was suddenly fast forwarding right in front of his eyes and all he wanted to do was rewind back to the simpler and happier times. He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard his phone ring. As he looked at the clock he couldn't help but smile. It was his favorite time of the day.

"Hey Bails." Cody said excitedly.

" _Hi Cody…I've missed you so much…" Bailey said sweetly just as happy to hear her voice._

"I just talked to you twelve hours ago…" Cody laughed.

" _That's a long time for me. Going twelve hours without hearing from the person that you love the most is a really long time." Bailey said faking her sadness._

"I know. I still can't get over that you won't be there to celebrate my birthday with me tomorrow." Cody said sadly.

" _I promise I will make it up to you soon…By the way your birthday present should be arriving at NYU sometime tomorrow just to let you know."_ Bailey pointed out.

"Can you give me any clues on what it is?" Cody joked.

" _Nice try sweetie…But I'm sure you are going to love it. I just shipped it yesterday morning and I promise you sweetie you are going to be forever grateful for this gift."_

"Sounds promising." Cody said happily.

" _Well I had to go all out for my fellers 18_ _th_ _birthday…" Bailey said happily._

"Whatever it is I know I'm going to love it…But my birthday wish still won't come true though…" Cody sighed.

" _Nothing is impossible Cody whishes are granted every single day…" Bailey said optimistically._

"I love how your so optimistic about things…" Cody said lovingly.

" _And I love everything about you my love…" Bailey smiled. "Oh gosh I didn't look at the time. I still need to finish packing my last suitcase before tomorrow."_

"Promise me you will call me as soon as you land?" Cody asked hopefully.

" _I promise. I love you Cody." Bailey said lovingly._

"I love you squared." Cody said as he hung up.

What Cody didn't know was that Bailey was that she was going to be a lot closer to him than he thought. Cody looked at his lock screen and a smile came across his face. It was from the photo booth from prom a couple months back. Cody was taken out of his thoughts when he heard the doors to their suite close.

"Broseph are you still here?" Zack called out from the living room.

"Your home from work late…" Cody said walking into the living room.

"You know how it goes on summer nights over at the ice cream stop." Zack laughed.

"Yeah it also doesn't help that it's right across the street from Fenway." Cody laughed.

"So you ready to bust on out of here in the morning?" Zack said sitting on the couch.

"Almost just a couple of things I still need to pack before I head out tomorrow afternoon." Cody said joining his twin on the couch.

"You know I'm going to have to admit I'm going to miss having you around here." Zack admitted. "It's hard pulling pranks on the hotel staff without my partner in crime."

"Wow Zack that actually means a lot coming from you. I would think that you would be the first one to be dancing with joy once I left for college."

"Well for a while I thought I would be too. But it turns out I've been so used to having you around these past 18 years that I have absolutely no idea where I would be if you weren't there to give me a push most of the time when I needed one." Zack laughed. "I don't think I would have made it through school without you there."

"Well if it's honesty hour I have something to confess too…" Cody sighed. "I am terrified for tomorrow. Before tomorrow there hasn't been a single second that you and me haven't been apart. Except for that week I went away for math camp it was always Zack and Cody and now that I'm moving to the big city I don't know when it's ever going to be just us two again."

"Hey New York City is just a short three hour drive so it's not like your going to school across the country. I can visit you on occasion besides Marcus is up there as well so I'm going to be visiting him sometimes as well." Zack smiled.

"I guess your right…I'm still going to miss you a lot though." Cody stated.

"I hate to admit this to myself. But if we're being honest with each other I'm going to miss you too." Zack said pulling Cody in for a hug.

"Tell you what? Since tonight is our last night together for a while why don't we head out to get pizzas and then I may have gotten these from London today." Cody said flashing two tickets to the Red Sox games against the Dodgers.

"I'm in." Zack said as the two twins ran out of their suite excitedly.

 _The Next Day_

"OK that's the last of them." Zack said unloading Cody's last box from Carrie's min-van

'Perfect timing I just got the keys to my dorm." Cody said emerging from Washington Center.

"Let's just hope I'm not going to have carry these boxes up several stairs." Zack said. "I feel like my arms are going to fall off anytime."

"OK funny story…Turns out that Washington Center doesn't have a functioning elevator today. The generator isn't working today".

"You have got to be kidding me. What's next your going to tell me that your dorm room is on the top floor?" Zack joked.

"Yes…" Cody said nervously.

"Well today is my lucky day isn't it?" Zack grumbled.

"Well it is our birthdays today." Cody laughed.

"Great just how I wanted to spend it." Zack sighed.

"I promise we'll go out for dinner tonight…On me…" Cody said.

"Well there's no arguing about that…" Zack said picking up one of the boxes and walking into the building.

About an hour later all of Cody's stuff was piled into their common room. Zack looked around the dorm room one final time and sighed.

"Finally I think we did a good job here Broseph." Zack said.

"There's still a lot more work I need to do though." Cody sighed.

"You can worry about that some other time right now it's time to celebrate our birthdays. It's too bad we can't see a show tonight though."

"Really your into Broadway?" Cody laughed.

"I admit I have a soft spot for musicals…" Zack laughed.

Before Cody could respond her heard a knock at his dorm door. Both twins turned to each other surprised.

"Who could that be?" Zack wondered.

"It's probably my RA welcoming me to the dorms." Cody said as he opened the door his jaw literally fell to the door.

"Happy birthday Cody!" Bailey said as she threw herself into Cody's arms.

"Bailey?!" Cody and Zack said surprised. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be up in New Haven by now."

"I turned down Yale…" Bailey said. "Cody I told you that I would go anywhere with you. So I decided to go to a school where we were both accepted." Bailey smiled. "I'm your new neighbor right downstairs!"

Cody kissed Bailey excitedly. He couldn't believe that she had declined one of the country's best Ivy League schools and go to New York University.

"Really?" Cody said excitedly.

"Does this make it more real?" Bailey said flashing Cody her student card.

Bailey smiled as Cody brought her in for a tight hug. Cody couldn't help but smile widely. He couldn't believe that Bailey would leave Yale for him. Although she had told him during graduation that she had wanted to but he couldn't let her do that.

"Are you sure about this Bails?" Cody asked.

"I haven't been more sure about anything in my entire life. Plus there's always graduate school we can try our luck then. But I learned something this summer. An education may be important but you are more important to me. I don't want to be anywhere without you. So moving to the big apple was the best decision I could have possibly made. Because I may not know what the future has in store for me professionally but I do know one thing. You are my future Cody. And I want to be with you forever."

Cody pulled Bailey in for a passionate kiss. As the two reunited lovebirds were being re-acquainted Zack couldn't help but look down at his shoes. He only hoped that one day he would find someone like Bailey who would love him unconditionally. He knew she was out there somewhere. He just had to find her. Or she just had to find him.

 _To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

_**MOVING ON**_

 **~ZACK~**

* * *

"Ok it's not that I'm not happy for you two but I'm really starting to work up an appetite here and the Codester here offered to pay for dinner." Zack laughed.

"Good to see you too Zack." Bailey laughed while giving him a hug.

"I still don't know what you see in him…" Zack joked.

"I am right here…" Cody said laughing.

"I can see that…Now who's hungry?" Zack said leading them out of the dorm room.

"Oh I should text Marcus to see if he wants to meet us tonight." Cody said once they began descending the stairs.

"Good idea I haven't seen him since he left the ship during our junior years." Zack said as the trio walked out into the streets of New York. "So farm girl what are you in NYU for?"

"Well I'm going for my bachelors degree in science then hopefully I will go to med school to become a physician." Bailey said as she snuggled up to Cody.

"Oohh we're going to have two Dr. Martin's in the family." Cody said happily while Bailey let out on of her famous giggles.

"What about you Zack? What have you been up to since grad?" Bailey asked.

Working the local ice cream shack. I know it's a pretty average job but believe it or not it's actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be." Zack stated.

"That's good for you Zack. Your actually enjoying doing work." Bailey laughed.

"Who would have seen that one coming?" Cody laughed.

"Very funny. Oh I forgot my backpack in the mini-van can you guys wait up for a minute?" Zack said as he made a beeline towards the parked car in the parking lot.

"Sure but why do you need your backpack when we're just going to the cheesecake factory?" Cody said questioningly.

"Number one your presents in there and number two my sketchpad is in there too." Zack said as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and carried his notepad with him. He wasn't watching what he was doing and knocked a middle aged man to the ground when he was trying to swing his backpack onto his shoulders.

"Oh geez I'm so sorry." Zack said helping the gentleman off the ground.

"Don't worry about it I probably was not looking where I was going and then I ended up on the ground." He replied.

"Zack what happened?" Cody said running up to him.

"I just so happened to whack this guy straight in the face when I tried to put my backpack on." Zack said embarrassed.

"Is it just me or am I seeing double?" He asked.

"Unfortunately you just got hit in the face by my twin brother Zack. I'm Cody Martin. It's a pleasure to meet you…Wait a minute…Your Wendall Vincent." Cody said shocked.

"Who?" Zack said shocked.

"The CEO of Gamewire Incorporated you know the guy behind most of the video games in our bedroom?" Cody said in a shocked tone.

"Whoa. I just whacked my video game icon in the face! I love your games especially DeathSmasher. I made it all the way to level 3000 in Deathsmacher 12 in 48 hours…" Zack said shaking his hand vigorously.

"It's true he had carpal tunnel for two weeks because of it." Cody laughed.

"Is that your sketchpad lying on the ground Mr. Martin?" Mr. Vincent asked.

Zack looked to the ground and found his sketchbook open to three of his best designs. You see he had this crazy dream growing up that he would be a video game developer. He thought it was a cool job since it involved his first love. Video games.

"Oh geez I must have thrown it on the ground to help you up." Zack said.

Mr. Vincent picked up the sketchpad and took a brief look at the three designs laid out in front of him. He was very impressed. No one on his team could draw characters and landscapes that intricately. He could have possibly came across the next best thing in video game design.

"No need to apologize." Mr Vincent stated as he began flipping through the various pages of intricate drawings. The sketchpad was filled with creative settings for the video games, and unique characters drawn out with such detail that made each one of them unique. "Mr. Martin have you ever dreamed of pursuing a career in video game design?"

"Believe it or not Mr. Vincent being a video game developer has been one of my lifelong dreams. But it was just a silly childish dream of mine." Zack laughed.

"What if I told you I had a way to turn your dreams into a reality?" He said.

"You can do that?" Zack asked stunned. "How?"

"Well it just so happens I am the admissions officer for NYU's Gaming Design program. About a week ago we noticed a couple of students differed there admissions to the program for a year and we need to fill those spots in within the next couple of weeks. And since I've taken a good look at your sketchpad and you seem to have a strong desire in pursuing video game design and have an equal passion for video games I would say you've also passed the interview for admission. With that being said I would like to offer you a seat in the Gaming Design program."

"Wow thank you Mr. Vincent I'm really honored but I don't have a place to stay or a job to pay for rent for that matter." Zack said still shocked with the offer.

"There are a lot of apartments just in walking distance from the Tisch School of the Arts and as for your job problem, you can work with me at Gamewrie Incorporated as one of our game testers. You will be testing out our latest games in development and there is also the possibility of you moving up within our company. We need talented individuals like you Zack. And judging by your drawings you have a very bright future for the video game industry and in our company as well. So what do you say Mr. Martin? Are you ready to move into the big apple to make your dreams a reality?"

"Wow this is all happening so quickly…Cody what do you think about all of this?" Zack asked. He needed to know what Cody was thinking. He always thought of Cody as his Jiminy Cricket growing up and he still used Cody's advice to make several life changing decisions. And this was one decision that could change the course of Zack's life forever.

"Zack this is a humongous opportunity right in the palm of your hands. You have a chance to make your dreams come true. You should go for it. And just think your just going to be down the road from me and Bailey so you know a couple people around here now. And I highly doubt an opportunity this big is ever going to come your way ever again so grab a hold of it while you still can." Cody smiled.

"But what if I'm not good enough." Zack sighed.

"Zack look at these drawings." Cody said taking the sketchpad from Mr. Vincent. "Just by looking at these I can already tell that you are an amazing artist and these designs are even better than most video games I've come across. Zack you have the talent. And I think it's about time that you show the world what Zack Martin is capable of." Cody smiled.

"So Mr. Martin so Mr. Martin do we have a deal?" Mr. Vincent asked.

"We do." Zack said as he began shaking Mr. Vincent's hand enthusiastically. "Thank you so much for this incredible opportunity Mr. Vincent and I promise I'm going to try to do my very best to impress you and work as hard as ever so you don't regret this decision." Zack said happily.

"I have a feeling that I won't regret this at all. Now why don't you meet me in my office so I can give your schedule, go over your work schedules and also I can give you keys to a new apartment that was just available in my building last night."

"Sounds good to me." Zack stated.

"Good my office is located in the Tisch School of the Arts which is right across from Central Park's west side entrance. I'm in room 1216. " Mr Vincent stated as he handed Zack his business card. "Now I must get on home I got a lot of applications to look through again. Congratulations again Mr. Martin I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of a great partnership."

The minute Mr. Vincent was out of sight, Zack sat down on the open trunk trying to process everything that had just happened over the course of the past five minutes. It still seemed very surreal that he was now on the way to pursue one of his childhood dreams.

"Still having problems putting everything?" Bailey asked as her and Cody both joined Zack.

"This is all just happening so quickly." Zack said. "I still can't believe that that this actually happened…On my birthday. It's like it was pulled out of some sappy movie or TV show where the good guy gets everything he's ever dreamed of in an instant."

"Yeah that does sound like it came out of a movie but trust me you deserve it." Cody smiled. "I'm happy that your actually going to be doing something that you love very much."

"Thanks bro that means a lot." Zack laughed.

"Now we have two reasons to celebrate. Now I don't know about you two but I'm getting quite hungry why don't we head off to dinner now?" Bailey suggested.

* * *

Thirty minutes later the trio were now getting off the subway and walking towards Tine Square. They had called Marcus and he happily told them to meet him at one of the fanciest restaurants in the city and that he would be picking up the bill for the night. Marcus had been doing pretty well off himself. He had ended up opening Retainer Baby on Broadway about six months ago which the entire gang had seen on their Spring Beak once the boat made it's way out of Kansas. It had done so well that Marcus had developed his own musical based on his own life story and had accepted a couple offers from Broadway musical producers to write the score to their shows. He was a very busy man and he didn't regret his decision to leave the boat three years ago.

"Marcus it's so great to see you again" Zack said engulfing his former roommate in a bro hug.

"It's great to see you three again as well. I've missed everyone on the boat these past few years here." Marcus laughed.

"Well even though it was nice to have my room to myself again I've missed having someone to talk to as well." Zack laughed.

"And boy am I glad that you two are back together. I swear you two were getting on my nerves before I left the boat. I wanted to strangle you two until you both realized how idiotic you two were being." Marcus laughed as he hugged Cody and Bailey.

"You know I would have let you do it back then." Cody laughed. "But you will be very delighted to know that the both of us are most definitely done being stupid. We both realized that our relationship is more important than a silly fight."

"So what about you Marcus? What have you been up to?" Bailey asked as the four friends began eating their appetizers.

"Well I've been writing for various Broadway producers and I'm a busy working on a script and score for my biographic musical." Marcus smiled. "And since you two are in New York City I expect you to be there opening night next spring." Marcus said to Cody and Bailey.

"Geez no invite for me?" Zack teased.

"Wait a minute…Your up here in the city too?" Marcus said confused.

"Yeah it just happened about an hour ago. I'm going to school up at NYU for the Video Gaming Design program." Zack grinned.

"Sweet! It's going to be so good to have as much familiar faces around here as possible." Marcus smiled. "It's been getting so lonely up here in the big apple."

"You don't know anyone else in the city?" Cody asked.

"Actually no. I've been kind of lonely since all of my family and friends are still in Atlanta." Marcus pointed out.

"Then it's a good thing that we decided to come to school up in New York." Zack pointed out.

"Well why don't we celebrate?" Marcus said as he raised his glass of sparkling cider. "To all of our success. May we have many more reasons to celebrate in the future." Marcus smiled as the four friends clinked their glasses together.

* * *

Since Zack didn't have a place to stay for the night he decided to crash with Cody since his new roommate wasn't supposed to move in until the next evening. Zack had just gotten out of the shower and was dialing the familiar number to his mom's cellphone.

"Zack what's taking you so long? Did something happen to you on the way to the city? You were supposed to be home two hours ago." Carrie said worried.

"Not exactly. Something did happen but it happened here in the city itself." Zack said happily. "It tuns out that I'm going to be attending NYU in the fall as well…" Zack went on to explain the entire encounter with Mr. Vincent and the incredible opportunity that was given to him.

"Oh honey I'm so proud of you…I'm so excited that both of my babies are going to be in New York City." Carrie said excitedly. "I can drive up every weekend." Carrie said happily.

"Not every weekend mom…" Zack sighed. "I want to enjoy the freedom that I had while I was out at sea at least."

"I know you and Cody are all grown up now but I just can't help it." Carrie laughed.

The next day finally came along and it was decided that Zack would be taking twenty credits per semester and five classes leaving him with Monday and Friday afternoons off which is where he would be working with Gamewire Incorporated. Which is where we find the older twin now as he was just getting out of the Central Park subway. The minute his foot touched the ground again he came face to face with a very tall skyscraper with the logo for GameWire Inc on the side of the building. Zack took a deep breath as he prepared himself to enter into his new life. Maybe this was the extra push he needed in able for him to get over Maya. As Zack walked onto the twentieth floor where all the "freshman" offices were. Zack took a glance around and smiled. This was going to be a great start. As he sat at his desk he found the employment package waiting to be filled out. As he took out a pen from his book bag he noticed that he was also working with various other departments in the company. It was the perfect space for Zack to learn more about the company.

"Nice to see you again Mr. Martin…" Mr. Vincent greeted as he approached Zack's desk later that afternoon.

"Hello Mr. Vincent and again thank you so much for this incredible opportunity." Zack smiled.

"I'm actually still surprised to see you here. It's almost 9 I thought for sure you would head home as soon as possible based on the long day you've had today."

"I'm just finishing off this last package of paperwork for you sir then I should be on my way out." Zack said turning his focus back to the important packages of paperwork that needed his attention.

"Fair enough. I'll see you here at 1 on Friday…" Mr. Vincent greeted as he walked off.

"Goodnight Mr. Vincent." Zack smiled.

Zack was about ready to head out of the office himself and head home to the apartment. That is until he noticed that a masked figure was trying to sexually assault a girl in the alleyway behind the office. He dropped his book bag onto the ground and rushed over to help her. He threw the attacker off of her and punched him as hard as he could in the jaw.

"Go now run!" Zack said desperately helping her up. Before Zack could process anything Zack felt the sharp tip of a needle go into his back. Zack gasped as he felt the pocket knife nestled deeply inside of his spine. The attacker ran away quickly as he heard the police sirens coming closer. The mystery woman immediately got up from the ground and took a look at the young man that saved her. She thanked the gods that they had sent him just in time. But she needed to ask fast if she ever wanted to thank him in person.

"Hello 9-1-1- I need an ambulance here at GameWire Inc. Someone has been stabbed. " She said frantically.

 _To Be Continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:Thanks so much for the favorites and reviews guys! I know this story is just starting and I'm just beginning to map out each characters key plot lines and where I see them moving on in this crazy adventure called life. Even though each chapter will focus on one main character story archs will bring these characters together. The first major story arch was just revealed and there are a ton more in the near future.**

* * *

 **MOVING ON**

 **~WOODY~**

Woody Fink looked around him as he entered his dorm room for the first time. He was at the Cleveland State University for Business Management. He thought it would be the perfect career for him to step up his dreams of owning his own chain of restaurants one day. He took a big risk in going to school far away from Addison but he had complete faith in their relationship. Besides, he would fly up to Chicago whenever he could to visit her and vice versa. They were going to have a steady system going on, but Woody had to admit that he was nervous that someone better would sweep Addison right off of her feet and she would leave him in the dust. Woody shook his head. He had a lot to look forward to in the near future and he was very excited about the prospect of getting started on his culinary career.

The door opened behind Woody and he realized that his new roommate was moving into the room.

"Hey there I'm Woody…" Woody said extending his hand to his new roommate.

"I'm Brandon Powers good to meet you Woody." Brandon smiled.

"So what brings you up to my hometown of Cleveland?" Woody asked as he began helping Brandon bring in his suitcases.

"Well I'm here for the education program. I'm hoping to follow in my mother's footsteps and become a high school teacher in the near future." Brandon pointed out. "So your from around here?"

"Born and raised. Although I am glad to finally be away from that madhouse. My mom's boyfriend Steve was always getting on my nerves whenever I was there." Woody pointed out.

"Funny you should say that. My step-mother is like the real life step-mother from Cinderella. I just had to get as far away from her as possible." Brandon laughed.

"How far are we talking about?" Woody wondered.

"I'm originally from LA so I basically moved halfway across the country and I know for sure that I won't be heading back home for a while." Brandon stated as he threw himself onto the other bed. "I could defenitley get used to this freedom."

"I'm excited to be free again. Those three years of high school on the S.S, Tipton were the best years of my life." Woody said happily.

"Excuse me but did I just hear you say that you went to school on a cruise ship?"

"You bet it was honestly the best experience I could have ever asked for." Woody began. "It's where I met my girl and my best friends."

"How did you even focus on school with you visiting so many fascinating places?" Brandon asked curiously.

"Trust me our school principal and ship's manager made sure to keep us all in line but we did have our share of adventures." Woody began telling Brandon about several of the gangs experiences and places they had visited.

"Now that I hear more and more about this sea school I wish I could have gone." Brandon snickered. "I would have gotten away from my evil step-mother a couple of years earlier."

"I'm very grateful for that cruise ship for letting me get away from my crazy home life." Woody said happily.

During that day, Woody and Brandon had become super close friends. As the both of them sat down towards the back of the auditorium four other people filled in the seats.

"If you would have gotten ready on time we would have gotten closer seats. You know my astigmatism doesn't let me have good sight from far away!" A young lady said.

"No one should be up before noon! Who in the world scheduled orientation for 11 in the morning anyways?" Another young female stated. She looked exactly like the first girl who had spoken so Woody they were defenitley identical twins without a doubt.

"Would you quit picking on your sister? My princess doesn't deserve it…" A handsome gentleman said as he pecked the first girl on the cheek.

"You two make me sick." The first girls twin commented while fake gagging.

"I tried to pay someone to sit through this boring orien something and they all said no…I mean it's five thousand dollars people." Another young gentleman said.

"Dude just because you're a movie star doesn't mean that you can pay people to do things for you." The first guy laughed.

Woody just couldn't help but laugh at the four friends bantering back and forth. He knew exactly where he heard that before.

"Is there something amusing sport?" The second female said angrily.

" _Excuse my sisters lack of manners. My name's Selena, my nasty half over there is Ezra, this handsome fella is my boyfriend of two years Grant, and the millionaire is…"_

"Bryan Salenger." Woody and Brandon finished.

"Gasp you two know who I am?" Brandon asked shocked.

"You're the biggest actor out there today of course we know who you are." Brandon laughed. "And not to mention you have the pipes as well…If you can dance well then good on you." Brandon joked.

"I actually can dance." Bryan pointed out.

"You four remind me of my best friends. Down to your personalities and attitudes and everything else." Woody laughed.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Ezra asked once again in a threatening tone.

"It's a good thing for sure. You remind me of my four best friends from high school. They were a fun group to be around. I sort of been missing them these past few weeks but you guys will suffice."

"Well since we basically know nobody else on this campus shall we call a truce and be friends?" Selena asked.

"You can count on it. The more the merrier." Brandon stated.

And so from that moment forward six friends had been formed and Woody didn't miss his old gang as much. Sure they would always have a huge place in his hear, but Woody's new found friends were alright. They also kept his mind off of his beloved Addison for a couple of hours. Woody seriously missed his little pixie-stick. But right there in the auditorium that afternoon he felt that he could officially open the next chapter of his life. Speaking of his little pixie-stick he remembered that he promised that he would call her as soon as he got settled into his dorm room.

"H _ey it's me Addison. Leave a message!"_ Woody sighed as he heard that hyper voice over the voicemail.

"Hey Addie it's me. Well I'm calling you like I promised. You know I met these six people today they were super cool! I think this college life will be a lot more bearable if I have these new friends here to support me. I miss you though." Woody sighed. "Can't wait to hear back from you soon." Woody said sadly as he hung up the phone.

As Woody was about to go to bed he noticed that someone else was calling him. As he looked at his caller ID he had to smile when he saw that his old roommate was calling him.

"Hey roomie!" Woody said excitedly.

"Woody you need to get to New York ASAP." Cody said in between sobs.

"Wait Cody are you crying? What happened? Is everything OK?"

"No…Woody Zack's been stabbed." Cody sobbed.

The moment Woody heard those words escape from Cody's mouth he felt tears make his way into his eyes. He couldn't imaging losing one of his brothers. Out of the original gang, Zack was the one he felt the closest to. And the thought of losing him wasn't something that he wanted to deal with.

"Is he doing OK?" Woody asked.

"They…They just took him into surgery… Woody what if something happens? What if I lose him?" Cody said nervously.

"Buddy your not going to lose him. You and I both know that Zack is a fighter. He will do whatever it takes to get back to you. He's going to be OK." Woody assured. "I promise I'm going to try to make it on the first flight out." Woody assured him.

"Thanks Woody." Cody said sadly.

"No worries." Woody said as he hung up.

"Woody is everything Ok?" Brandon asked as he came out of the washroom. "You look a little pale."

"One of my closest friends might die…" Woody said sadly.

 _To Be Continued._


	4. Chapter 4

**MOVING ON**

 **~CODY~**

 _BETH ISRAEL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL 11:45 PM_

Cody and Bailey frantically made their way through the emergency ward. Cody had just received a phone call that he never wanted to receive ever again. The fact that his older brother was now in critical condition scared the living daylights out of him. He didn't want to imagine life without him. Sure the two of them always had their fights, but they were brothers. They always found their ways to make it up to each other.

"Cody everything is going to be OK…" Bailey said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"I sure hope your right Bails. I don't know what I would do with myself if I lost Zack." Cody sighed as the both of them sat down in two uncomfortable hospital chairs. "He's my whole world Bailey. Sure I don't show it all of the time but I love that goofball." Cody laughed.

"Family of Zack Martin?" A middle aged man stated as he walked into the emergency waiting room.

"Hi doctor I'm Cody Martin Zack's twin brother. Is he doing OK? What happened?" Cody asked anxiously.

"He was a very lucky man. A young lady had called emergency services as soon as he was stabbed. He lost a huge amount of blood on the way over here, and we are currently trying to stabilize him before we go into surgery." The doctor explained. "It turns out that the knife is really deep into his spine that we need to do emergency surgery to remove it as soon as possible. Because if not…"

"It could lead to permanent paralysis." Cody explained.

"Very good Mr. Martin." The doctor joked. "If you didn't look your age you would definitely make a great doctor." He joked around to lighten the mood.

"Well I'm a first year nursing student so close enough." Cody laughed. "Please doctor please do anything you can to save him." Cody pleaded with the doctor.

"Me and my team will definitely do our best. He's in good hands. Now if I were you I would go over and thank that young lady near the elevators. She's the one who brought him in." The doctor explained as he walked off.

"That's strange I've never seen her before." Bailey said as the both of them approached her.

"Maybe she might be from his office." Cody guessed. "Hi there. I've been told that you brought my brother here into the emergency room." Cody said as he sat beside Marci.

"If it wasn't for your brother I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be sitting here right now." Marci pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Bailey asked.

"Your brother saved me." Marci said as she turned towards Cody. "You see he had heard my screams of help from the alleyway behind GameWire International. These two men were trying to sexually assault me. And your brother fought them off then one of them stabbed him in the back." She explained. "I owe your brother my life. If he hadn't come to me when he did I might have been raped." Marci explained as fresh tears made her way into her eyes.

"Oh my gosh…" Bailey said stunned about the recent revelations from Marci. "Did those men get away?"

"They did…They ran away before the police could get to the scene. But I told them everything. I know exactly how those two look like. And if there really is good in this world those two will be getting everything that they deserve." Marci stated.

"Are you sure your OK? Maybe you should get checked out we are inside a hospital." Bailey pointed out.

"Trust me I'm OK…" Marci said.

"I just hope I can say the same thing about my brother…" Cody said worried as he looked out the window to the thunderstorm happening outside.

"Cody I came as soon as I heard." Marcus said running up to the group.

"Thank you for being here Marcus I appreciate it." Cody said giving him a hug.

"Of course I'm always here for a friend." Marcus stated. "I just can't believe this all happened. Zack getting stabbed in the back that's just wrong. Who could have done this?"

"Those people are sick in their heads. They almost tried to sexual assault Marci over here which is why Zack is in the operating room. He saved her from getting sexually assaulted." Cody explained.

"Well at least he went down fighting." Marcus said joining the other three on the sofas. "By the way I'm Marcus Little. You must be so shell shocked after what happened over the past couple of hours." Marcus said as he introduced himself to Marci.

"Shell shocked isn't even the proper word for it." Marci sighed. "Guilt mostly."

"Marci you don't need to feel guilty." Cody began.

"But your brother is lying on a operating table fighting for dear life and it's all because of me. I'm the one who put him in there." Marci sobbed.

"Marci your just the victims here. Anyone in their right minds would have done exactly what my brother did. What happened next was just an unfortunate event." Cody said as he tried to calm Marci down.

"And imagine if Zack hadn't saved you. Just thing of the despicable things that those sick minded people would have done to you." Bailey replied.

"The minute he wakes up I'll make sure to thank him a million times." Marci said.

"You will have all the time in the world to thank him when he wakes up." Cody laughed. "Aren't you two both working at GameWire International?"

"Yes but in different divisions. I'm with the IT department and I have no idea where Zack's department is. In fact I've never seen him in the office or around the cafeteria at all so I'm guessing it was either his first day on the job or he had a late interview with Mr. Vincent."

"It was his first day with the Game Development division. He was so excited for it as well. He was on his way back to his apartment and me and Cody were going to surprise him with a home made dinner." Bailey explained. "You see Cody loves to cook and Zack's favorite cuisine is Italian and Cody had been in the middle of baking a fresh lasagnia and garlic bread when the hospital called."

"Geez it's past midnight and you two are making me hungry." Marcus joked. "I'm sure Zack would have been great at his job. Back on the ship it seemed that he spent more time in the gamers lounge rather than doing his homework."

"He did the same thing back at the hotel." Cody laughed.

"He sounds like he's a great guy." Marci laughed.

"He has his moments." Cody laughed. "But then there are times where his reckless and carefree personality kicks in. That's when all the pranks and the constant flirting kick in. He'll flirt with anything wearing a skirt really. One time back at the hotel he was flirting with a transgender model and it took him a while to realize it was a dude. " Cody said dying of laughter.

"Wait why didn't Zack ever bring this up? That's hysterical!" Bailey said as she began wiping tears away from her eyes from laughing too hard.

"I think he's still scared from it even though it was seven years ago." Cody laughed.

"Besides his rambunctious ways he still sounds like a pretty cool dude." Marci said still laughing from Cody's story.

"Once you get to know the real Zack you'll see how loyal he is to his friends. He's one of those friends who's always there when you need him. I still remember the whole scheme he tried to pull to save my family's farm back home in Kettlecorn."

"We almost lost the farm because of him and Woody." Cody laughed.

For the next couple of hours the group had began to share stories with Marci about their many adventures out in the open seas as well as other intriguing stories about Zack. The more Marci got to hear about him, the more she wanted to get to know him in person. He seemed like a great guy. The group was all engaged in sharing stories that they didn't realize that Zack's doctor had walked through the emergency room doors with a troublesome look in his eyes.

"Mr. Martin?" Dr. Williams said as he approached the group.

"Doctor how's my brother did he make it out of surgery OK?" Cody asked desperately.

"The surgery was successful however we ran into an unfortunate complication. He has lost a lot of blood during the procedure so he did need a blood transfusion. However the knife had damaged one of his central nerves. We managed to repair it however in order to do that…"

"You needed to put him under a medical induced coma." Cody sighed.

"Exactly." Dr. Williams said sadly.

"Do you know how long he's going to be in a coma for?" Cody asked.

"Well Mr. Martin as you should probably already know patients who go into a state of coma wake up when they do. These are very delicate cases and most patients do recover from it." Dr. Williams stated doing his best to be hopeful. "But it is up to Zack's body. He will wake up when he does. The good news is he is still responsive and his heartbeat is steady."

"When can we head in to see him?" Bailey asked.

"Well I just finished surgery so in a couple more hours he should be transported into his private room. I will be sure to come and get you once we have Mr. Martin settled." Dr Williams stated as he walked away.

And in that very moment Cody felt his whole world come to a screeching stop. Like a car going really fast down a highway and needing to break all of a sudden due to traffic. His twin brother was in a coma and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Cody are you all right?" Marcus asked.

That was the last thing that Cody heard before he fainted. The other three immediately ran towards Cody who was now passed out cold on the cold floor. Marci immediately ran towards the nursing station to alert them of the situation.

"Cody you need to be OK you just need to be…" Bailey begged.

"Bailey he was in shock I'm sure he's going to be fine." Marcus said as he wrapped an arm around her for comfort.

At this point a bunch of nurses had rushed over to the scene and immediately put Cody in a wheelchair and wheeled him towards one of the empty hospital beds in the emergency wing. Bailey was walking right behind the nurses and as they brought Cody into one of the beds she noticed that Carrie was standing there with her jaw literally on the floor.

"Oh my god my poor baby!" Carrie said worriedly. "What happened?"

"Mrs. Martin it seems that Cody had passed out from shock." Bailey explained giving Carrie a hug.

"Shock from what?" Carrie asked wondering.

"I think you need to sit down for this. We don't need two Martins fainting." Bailey said sadly.

"Bailey is something the matter? You seem kind of off." Carrie said worriedly.

"You see Carrie, we just heard some horrible news about Zack's condition." Bailey began explaining.

"Zack got out of surgery?" Carrie asked shocked. "Where is he?"

"The nurses are working on transferring up to recovery right now. We could see him in a couple of hours. Anyways back to my original point. There was a complication during surgery. It seems that the knife that Zack was stabbed with severely injured one of his nerves in his spine that's connected to the central nervous system. The doctors were able to repair it, however they needed to put him under a medically induced coma to heal."

"So you mean to say that he's in a coma right now?" Carrie asked heartbroken.

"I'm really sorry this happened Carrie…But we have to be positive Zack is one of the strongest people I know. He's going to wake up and everything will be back to normal." Bailey reassured her.

"For both of my babies sakes I hope your right…I can't lose my two babies…" Carrie said sadly.

"Your not Mrs. Martin I'm sure Cody and Zack will be back to normal before we know it…" Marcus explained.

"Bails?" Cody said weakly from the hospital bed.

"Sweetie thank god your OK…" Bailey said walking towards Cody.

"What happened?" Cody asked confused. "Why am I…" Cody's eyes widened. It had all officially come rushing back to him now. He had remembered everything. Why he was in the hospital, why he was lying on the hospital bed…And most importantly what had happened to Zack. "Oh my god…Where's Zack?" Cody said frantically. "I need to see him."

"Sweetie he hasn't been moved to a private room yet…" Carrie explained.

"Mom I have no idea what I'm going to do without him…He can't be in a coma…" Cody sobbed.

"Sweetie everything is going to be OK. He's your brother you know he doesn't give up on a fight. He's going to do everything he possibly can so he can find his way back to all of us." Bailey said as she began to embrace Cody.

"I just need to see him to make sure he's ok Bails…" Cody sighed as he calmed down.

"He should be in a private room soon. You can see him then."

Sure enough about two hours later Cody had entered Zack's private room. He saw Zack lying there helplessly hooked up to a breathing tube and several other machines that were keeping him alive. Cody shivered as he began walking towards his twin brother.

"Hey Zack…It's me…" Cody whispered. "I know you can't possibly hear me right now but I'm right here. And I promise…I won't leave your side until you wake up…You may not have always been there for me. But I promise I will always be there for you…Because no matter how many times we end up wanting to choke each other to death your still my brother and I love you." Cody sighed as he felt a steady stream of tears make their way down his face. "Look your going to wake up and everything is going to be back to normal again. Just like before. Your going to end up teasing me again and I'm going to end up torturing you with all of my knowledge." Cody laughed. "But I know one thing for sure. Once you wake up I am never going to take you for granted ever again." Cody promised. And that was going to be a promise he was going to keep.


End file.
